Abstract

The optical threshold of terahertz intracenter arsenic-doped silicon lasers has been reduced by two orders of magnitude by applying a compressive force to the laser crystal. The Si:As lasers were optically excited with radiation from a laser operating at a wavelength of . The lowest threshold intensity of was realized at about stress applied along the [001] crystal axis. The uniaxial stress breaks the resonant interaction of electrons bound to donors with intervalley phonons. This changes the upper laser state from to , lowers the laser threshold, and increases the output power.